Blackhawks: Who Was Their Greatest Rival in 2010s

Throughout the 2010s, the Chicago Blackhawks had a lot of success. When teams have a lot of success, it creates a target on their back, when there’s a target, rivalries begin.

The Chicago Blackhawks had many big rivals in the 2010s. Of course, the Red Wings will always be a rival of the team due to their past history. The Canucks were a big rival of the Blackhawks, along with the Coyotes earlier on in the 2010s.

It’s fair to add the Flyers and Bruins for a few seasons too, as their Stanley Cup series were physical and full of bad blood. The Predators and the Blackhawks had a few nice playoff series, which were one-sided until 2017. They’re big rivals now, but they’re not the biggest.

The Kings and Blackhawks had two nice Western Conference Finals matchups, which turned ugly the second time they went against each other in 2014, but it still is nothing compared to the Blues.

The biggest rival of Chicago in the 2010s has to be the Blues. These two teams did not and still don’t like each other one bit. The fans of each team are hostel towards the others, there are no friends in this game when they matchup. It’s always a physical game, a game that sometimes becomes bigger than hockey itself.

The rivalry got hot and vas renewed in 2014, when Brent Seabrook hit David Backes in the boards, knocking him out of the game and giving him a concussion. (2:18) These two teams were long time rivals, but they needed a spark, as they didn’t have a playoff meeting since 2002.

Games 3-6 were hard-hitting, aggressive, lots of penalties, and some fun hockey between the two. The Blackhawks would win the series out after falling down 2-0 and move on to the second round of the playoffs, but this rivalry was just getting started.

In 2015, these two teams went back and forth again in the regular season. The Blues would win the season series 3-2, finishing first in the central division, but would be knocked out of the first round by the Wild, missing a potential rematch from 2014.

In 2016, the one year wait was over for the two teams, as they matched up again in round one of the playoffs. After falling down 3-1, the Blackhawks climbed back to tie the series at 3. They’d lose Game 7. The Blues went all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to San Jose.

Since then, these two teams haven’t met in the playoffs, but have had some heavy-hitting regular-season games. As everyone knows, the Blues won the Stanley Cup this past year. Here’s what Jonathan Toews had to say.

“There was no part of me that was happy, let’s make that clear. To me them tanking at the start of the year was a huge underachievement. I’m not ready to give them as much credit as everyone else was.”

Of course, that fired fans up, as we were all excited to see the two teams matchup in the regular season. Unfortunately, the Blues are on a four-game win streak against the Blackhawks. Still, my dislike for the Blues wishes these two would meet in the playoffs, especially this year if the NHL has a 24-team playoff.

It would be nice for Chicago to return the favor the Blues gave the Blackhawks in 2016, by knocking out the defending Stanley Cup Champions. It’ll be nice to hear “the Blues will defend no more” by Pat Foley.

There will be more to see during the 2020s. Will the Blues continue to be the top rival in Chicago, or will a different team steal their throne?